Chapter 41: Future Trunks Gaiden, Part II
As the newly arrived deities Kaioshin and Kibito revealed their agenda, Future Trunks and Bra stood in place, yelling softly, "S-Stop… The resurrection of Boo?"
"A-And he's gonna be a cyborg?" said Bra.
"Y-Yes, it makes sense! Of course! I've been away from this timeline for quite some time, and unlike in the other reality, we never were faced with Boo's invasion! And the year is a bit later than when I'd arrived in the past to eventually rise as leader of the Mother Planet's Resistance!"
"I see that an exchange of information is due, young one. You were leader of the Planet M's Resistance? What vile sorcery did you resort to to achieve this feat, mortal?"
"Mind your tongue, Kibito. First, we shall discuss this matter at the Kaioshin-kai. It would be more fortuitous for us to test these new protégés' abilities, as well as discuss our strategies in the higher realm."
"I-I have a request, Kaioshin-sama! May I inform my mother of our departure?! I've been away from her for so long that it's had a grievous impact on her heart and soul, and I have to let her know that I'm going to return in short order! Please!" said Future Trunks, while bowing to the short deity.
"Very well. I can tell that you are a man possessing a pure soul, having immediately devoted yourself to our cause even before any kind of discussion of your consent was had. Please return to this site within an hour."
"A-An hour?! Sir, at risk of speaking out of line, sixty minutes is much too long a time! Even a minute is vital in a situation such as this!"
"Silence, Kibito. I am asking these two young warriors to risk life and limb for the sake of our cause, I will not have you disrespect them by treating them as though they are our pawns."
"Y-Yes, sir…"
"Thank you! I'll be here again in short order!" yelled Future Trunks, as he immediately sprinted toward Future Bulma's direction. Still confused, but slightly excited at the prospect of getting in a challenging bout, Bra stood in place, smiling while in a tall squatting position, saying, "Finally! After all that sparring and training I did to reach the next level of Super Saiyan and not get left in the dust by Pan, I get to show my stuff!"
Kibito looked at the young Saiyan girl with a disapproving gaze at her lack of awareness for the danger at hand, but kept his silence. Future Trunks then arrived at Future Bulma's room, where he saw her humming with a large grin on her face, as she muttered to herself, "A miracle! Miracle! My son's come here safe and sound, and I even find out the past me's had herself a beautiful daughter! Oh, how this reminds me of the good ol' days… If only you could be around to share this joy, Vegeta… And Son-kun! Nothing can take away my son from me again! Hahaha!"
Future Trunks heard her joyful mumbling from a slight distance and decided not to inform his mother after all, and simply climbed up the stairs leading to the Capsule Corp. entrance before using a wireless pad to leave a message in Bra's message box reading, "Mom, Bra wants to see this world for herself. We'll be back in a couple of days. Love, Trunks."
Wiping a tiny tear from his eye, Trunks' eyes took a determined, fierce look as he then phased through the door to not alert his mother of his short-lived visit, before he quickly tracked Bra's Ki to a wasteland a few kilometers away, where she was sparring with both Kaioshin and Kibito, having decided to show them what she was made of, in response to Kibito's continued, passive rudeness.
"Whatsamatter, is that all ya guys got?!" yelled Bra as she continuously dodged circles around Kaioshin and hit him repeatedly with sharp and accurate finger strikes, while simultaneously keeping an eye on Kibito's attempts to paralyze her using his telekinesis.
"Ha! Hahaha! That freezin' technique might work on some novice dunce, but unfortunately, I trained a ton with Tenshinhan-san and Chaozu! Thanks to that, I know what you're tryin' to do like the back of my hand! C'mon, I haven't even gone Super Saiyan yet! You gotta try harder than this!"
Future Trunks then silently appeared in her direction and quickly took out a capsule blade, which she adroitly blocked with her Nyoi-bo. However, Trunks then said, "Kibito-san!"
Kibito raised himself from his knees and paralyzed Bra in unison with Kaioshin, who then materialized a needle containing a muscle relaxant and injected it into Bra's neck, leaving her unable to move.
"That's a lesson in team battles, Bra. And one that'll prove to be completely invaluable. You got cocky and thought you had this in the bag, but fighting a group as large as Mu's machine mutant forces, you always have to be wary of an enemy's reinforcements, and attack as fatally and quickly as possible before concealing your presence fast."
"G-Grr… J-Just free me, already! I get it!" said Bra through telekinesis, at which point Kibito said, "Such will be done, when we require your assistance. Your fighting skills are without doubt up to par, but you've no aptitude for strategic battles!"
"Please take us to the Kaioshin-kai now, Kaioshin-sama. There, you can inform us of what you know, and I will be sure to do the same."
"Indeed. I am glad that you made up your mind faster than I had requested, Trunks-san."
"Kai Kai!" yelled Kibito as he warped Kaioshin, Future Trunks, the frozen Bra and himself to the Kaioshin-kai, where they found themselves next to a pile of magical herbs. Kaioshin levitated them and placed them onto Kibito's wounds, at which point Kibito swiftly raised his body temperature to have the herbs melt and seep into his skin, as his wounds very quickly began to heal. He then said, "Excuse me, my lord," as he placed his hand on Kaioshin's chest to heal his wounds completely in the blink of an eye.
"That ability… It's just like Dende's… And the Boo we knew."
"You know of Majin Boo? You have to inform us of what occurred in the other timeline you visited, fast!" said Kaioshin, at which point Future Trunks said, "Of course. It's quite a long story…"
"No need to tell it to us, Trunks-san. Allow me to simply browse through your unique set of experiences," said Kaioshin as he and Kibito placed their palms on Trunks' head, instantly reading through his memories.
"! T-This is indeed invaluable information! You have fought the Machine Mutants of Mu for quite a time!"
"A-And now I know the story behind all of this as well! You transmitted your memories to me while reading mine!"
"Yes, Trunks-san. To think… that there was a true mastermind behind Mu, the evil Tsufurian Baby… I had thought that the Tsufurian race was completely exterminated by the Saiyans, who were themselves exterminated by Freeza in turn."
"Yes, now I realize that I was wrong to underestimate your usefulness to us. Your assistance will be an asset like no other," said Kibito.
"H-Hey! You three aren't sayin' a word about any of this, to me! Let me be a part of this, damn you!" yelled Bra telepathically, disrupting the conversation.
"Feh. I suppose you will need to be aware of things to an extent for us to be all up to speed," said Kibito as he said in the Godly tongue to Kaioshin through telepathy, "I will inform her of the structure of Mu's army ranks, but I'm keeping all of the information about Baby and the Resistance secret from her. As hotheaded as she is, her knowing everything will prove to be hindrance rather than help."
"Understood, Kibito," said Kaioshin back, in the Godly language. And so, Kibito informed Bra of this as much as he believed was needed, before quickly healing her to free her of her paralysis. Bra wanted to slug him in the face for what they'd done to her, but realized that she'd rather not jeopardize her place in the team and barely held back her anger.
"I believe that's as much strategizing as we need. Kibito, bring me the crystal ball!"
"Why, absolutely!" yelled Kibito as he materialized a crystal ball, through which an abandoned spaceship with an M insignia could be seen, with a strange, green static interference around it.
"What's this? I've never seen a crystal ball quite like this before," said Future Trunks.
"That is Babidi's spaceship. It landed in a desolate area in the Mother Planet, known more commonly as M2, three months prior. I know not why they would land on such a precarious planet, but if I had to guess, it must have been to more handily gather the energy to revive Boo! And to prevent Mu's surveillance from catching wind of the spaceship's arrival, a barrier was placed around it, obscuring it from view from artificial surveillance! But luckily, to form a barrier that can evade the omniscient cognizance of the Gods is something not even Babidi can easily accomplish, much less for three months!"
"Three months?! They've been there in one place, that long?! T-That's reckless! Mu had to have found them, by now!"
"That's what is peculiar! I know not if they realized that repeatedly teleporting the spaceship from location to location would make it too conspicuous when traces of the spaceship being buried underground would be left, but Babidi and Dabura have not returned there once, since taking out Boo's shell and the energy that they gathered! Nor do we detect that Mu himself has visited the spaceship, to inspect it!"
"So for three months, both parties have been AWOL… And Mu shows no sign of having been toppled."
"Yes. But based on the memories you projected onto us, Rild should not be of any great threat to us in a head-on fight, with your might as our weapon, Trunks-san."
"I still think that going to Mu's headquarters would be the greater danger, Kaioshin-sama. They've a lot of dangerous chemical weapons, the other me told me that he and Piccolo-san have found themselves captured by far weaker enemies thanks to their expertise with poisons."
"Meaning, it is likely safer to attack the spaceship, first… Very well, Trunks-san. With your power to phase through matter, we should be able to infiltrate the spaceship first. And I agree, this is splendid strategizing. Babidi's sorcery only works on the wicked, meaning that for people such as us with no impure thoughts, they'd pose the lesser danger of the two forces."
"I propose that we split into two groups," said Kaioshin, "Kibito! You shall tag along with Bra, and defend the ship from anyone attacking from the outside! Bra-san's extension staff will provide her with considerable range for defending you, the weakest of all four of us, physically! And Trunks-san and I will inspect the ship, and take care of any evildoers there! Since Boo's shell doesn't seem to be in the spaceship at the moment, if push comes to shove we will simply detonate the ship, to prevent Babidi from making his getaway!"
"Yes, my lord. You are wise."
"Enough chitter chatter, already! I'm itchin' to give 'em a bruisin'!" yelled Bra as she spun her left arm in circles and cracked her knuckles.
"Kai Kai!"
The four heroes then found themselves mere feet away from Babidi's spaceship, at which point Future Trunks drew his capsule blade and attempted to cut through the barrier, only for the blade to instantly snap in two.
"I see… I was hoping that I would be able to avoid making ourselves known, since it takes a bit of Ki utilization to phase through objects… But this barrier is much too sturdy for man-made weapons to cut through, without me raising my power."
"Do not worry, Trunks-san. It would make little difference either way. If we were to kill the foes we encounter inside, then our presence would be known soon enough. It was inevitable, in the end."
"Alright, here goes…" muttered Future Trunks as he flared up an aura around himself and disrupted the matter around him, phasing through the barrier. Kaioshin followed him inside before the hole closed, as Kibito then picked up the halves of the sword Future Trunks tossed aside and regenerated them both into restored swords, coated in Katchin-ko. He then took a defensive stance and said, "Bra, your job is to defend me from oncoming attacks. If they defeat or capture me, the healer of our group, that would mean that we could no longer expect to restore grievous injuries."
"Bah! With me around, ya won't need to worry about anyone getting' grievously injured! I tellsya, they can bring it all on!" yelled Bra as she flared up a white aura around herself, figuring that going Super Saiyan wasn't necessary nor advised quite yet.
Meanwhile, Future Trunks and Kaioshin were inspecting each of the floors, to find absolutely no one inside. Future Trunks then said, "Kaioshin-sama, are you capable of using Kai Kai like Kibito?"
"Hm? Yes, although my use of it is a bit less refined than his. It is something that is expected of all Kaioshin, although to my chagrin I only mastered it a few years ago."
"I see… Then Babidi's plan probably isn't to isolate us from Bra and Kibito-san. Well, we're on the last floor, and I don't see anyone or anything around…"
"!"
Just then, the two were shocked to discover upon reaching the last floor that located on the final floor was a stone statue in Dabura's likeness, donning a shocked expression.
"A-A… Dabura… statue?!" yelled Kaioshin in shock.
"I-It's just like the real thing you showed me in your memories… This creature has the power to turn anything he spits on into stone, doesn't he? S-So he turned himself into stone? Something is strange…"
"T-Trunks-san! It's best to be careful with this! Try phasing into the object, to be fully sure that he is just a stone!"
"A-Alright…" said Future Trunks as he quickly went Super Saiyan, in order to be fully sure that he wouldn't be caught off guard. Just then…
"Gwaaaarrgh!" yelled the Dabura "statue" as it quickly had its eyes glow in red, before Dabura broke through the layer of stone covering himself and blasted Future Trunks with a kiai, knocking him straight out of the spaceship without disrupting it, before then grabbing Kaioshin by the neck and flying through the distortion, and instantaneously burrowing through the ground to appear several kilometers away from Bra and Kibito. Future Trunks gathered himself, realized that he was in for a fight, and then went Super Saiyan 2.
"That was a clever ploy! You went and suppressed your energy completely, and wore some kind of rubber layer around yourself that you turned to stone!"
"Bwahahahaha! I had always known that Kaioshin would come, with reinforcements! Allow me to show you the true power of the Demon King!"
Dabura then tossed Kaioshin aside and flared up a red aura around himself that crackled in black lightning, at which point he materialized a spear and launched it at Future Trunks, who snapped it in two with a sideways karate chop, before using the handle to block all of Dabura's blasts, at which point he shot a massive stream of fire from his mouth, which Future Trunks had to cancel out with a large blast.
"He's got a knack for battle! He knew it takes too long a delay for me to phase through matter, and chose to ignite a flame… Which, unlike launching blasts with pure Ki, doesn't consume as much energy!"
"What's wrong, boy? Are you going to stand around there forever?!"
"I can't go full power to face him, not just yet… But something is off, Dabura shouldn't be this strong!" thought Future Trunks.
"Bwahahahaha! You fear the mighty King of the Demon Realm!" yelled Dabura as he formed two long Urumi blades on his hands and waved them around, forcing Future Trunks to have to dodge even more accurately.
"So this is what it's like to face a magic user… He doesn't lose any Ki at all from summoning those demon weapons, in a sense making him more dangerous than Rild's metal breath…"
"Hahahaha! Bwahahahaha!"
"In that case, I have to exploit his vulnerability!" thought Future Trunks as he dodged Dabura's Urumi blades by a hair, before using Bukujutsu to fling himself straight into Babidi's spaceship, at which point he formed a sphere of Ki around his hands and yelled, "Goodbye!"
"N-No!" yelled Dabura as he used his demonic afterimage technique to use his own body to shield the spaceship, at which point Future Trunks took advantage of his vulnerability to disarm him by punching both of his wrists.
"I have you now!" yelled Future Trunks as he launched a couple of blasts from his feet and vaporized the Urumi before elbowing Dabura in the chin, before then kicking him repeatedly in his neck and right shoulder and then following up the combination with a heavy body blow.
"B-Bwwwwargh!" yelled Dabura as he spat blood, at which point Future Trunks grabbed him by the leg and threw him straight onto a precipice.
Future Trunks then landed on the ground and yelled, "Dabura, it's already over! Not only have I not come close to going full power yet, but your vulnerability is much too obvious! You can't risk the spaceship being destroyed! You chose the wrong place to fight, and the wrong opponent to fight as well! If you surrender, we'll take you as our prisoner. I don't have to kill you here."
Just then, a green ray emerged from the direction opposite to where Future Trunks threw Dabura, turning one of his arms into metal.
"W-What is this?! It's… It's Rild!" yelled Future Trunks as he then saw his hated enemy – or rather, an alternate timeline version of him, and quickly gathered his energy and went into full power, raising his power four-fold.
"I guess in this timeline, we haven't met… But I know you and your kind, all too well! Rild! You die here, for the sins you've committed against the people of this planet! This is for the Resistance!"
"HAAAAAAA!" yelled Future Trunks as he launched himself in a straight line using his unaffected hand to punch straight through Rild, only for Dabura to then launch a cutting wind in his direction using his demonic powers, forcing Future Trunks to dodge. Just then, Rild summoned the three members of the Sigma Cannon Force, and melded them into his body to transform into his Hyper Mega Rild form.
"So, it isn't your ultimate Meta-Rild form this time, is it?! I see I've been underestimated! But I'll kill you first!" yelled Future Trunks as he shouted, "Big Bang… ATTACK!" and launched a powerful sphere of energy, which Rild formed a barrier to avoid being hit directly by. But the barrier completely shattered from the impact, and Rild's armored portions were completely broken. Future Trunks then broke Dabura's neck with a heavy roundhouse kick, before diving headfirst in Rild's direction. Just as he grabbed Rild by the neck and twisted it to prevent being hit by his metal breath again, he took a look at Rild's forehead and saw a shocking insignia…
"That M on his head! It's…"
"Babidi's mark! One that he inscribes upon those he converts!" yelled Kaioshin and Kibito as they arrived at the site of battle with Bra.
"T-Then…"
"I meant not to kill you… We were testing if you could be of use to us," said Dabura as he quickly got up and placed his broken neck back in place.
Rild's head then transformed into a grey, liquid metal form before transforming back into his normal head shape, helmet and all.
"We propose… An alliance. To take down Mu."
"WHAT?!"
Just what has happened on the planet M2?
To be continued…